Lycoming News

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference issued the following announcement on June 15.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its 2022 Spring Top 10 Award recipients, chosen and voted on by the league’s sports information directors.

The PSAC Top 10 was initiated in the 1998-99 academic year, given to men and women who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition.

The winners for the Spring are Connor Bennink (Gannon), Mike Ferrara (West Chester), Divonne Franklin (Cal), Connor Hamilton (Slippery Rock), Samuel Hartman (Seton Hill), Karolin Kirtchtag (IUP), Hannah Marsteller (Shippensburg), Kaleigh Pokrivka (East Stroudsburg), Charleigh Rondeau (Slippery Rock), and Josh Surowiec (Mercyhurst).

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Connor Bennink

School: Gannon

Hometown / High School: Kennett Square, Pa. / Unionville High School

Sport: Men’s Golf

Major: Finance

Cumulative GPA: 4.0

Bennink concluded his 2021-22 season with a handful of accolades including 2021-22 PSAC Men’s Golfer of the Year. He helped the Golden Knights to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional Tournament punching them a ticket to the DII National Championships. There, he won the Men’s Golf Elite 90 Award and was recently named to the 2022 PING All-Atlantic Region Team. Bennink is also earned 2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, was First-Team All-PSAC, and named Golf Athlete of the Week four times.

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Mike Ferrara

School: West Chester

Hometown / High School: Jamison, Pa. / Archbishop Wood

Sport: Baseball

Major: Business Management

Cumulative GPA: 3.80

Mike Ferrara was an integral part of West Chester’s DII Baseball Semifinals run in 2022. He led the team in batting average (.346), slugging (.659), hits (62), home runs (9), and RBI (64). He was named First-Team All-PSAC East, NCBWA All-Region Honorable mention, ABCA Second-Team All-Region, and CoSIDA Academic All-District.

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Divonne Franklin

School: California (Pa.)

Hometown / High School: Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop John Carroll

Sport: Women’s Outdoor Track & Field

Major: Biology

Cumulative GPA: 3.64

Divonne Franklin was named Outstanding Track Athlete at the 2022 PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships where she won and broke the Championship records the 100 meter and 200 meter races and helped the 4x400 meter relay to a victory. She was selected to the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship where she finished 10th in the 100m and 14th in the 200m. Franklin broke the school records in the 100m and 200m this season and was named USTFCCA Atlantic Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.

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Connor Hamilton

School: Slippery Rock

Hometown / High School: Forestport, N.Y. / Adirondack

Sport: Baseball

Major: Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Cumulative GPA: 3.92

Helped lead Slippery Rock to its highest win total since 2009 and berths in the PSAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament hitting .400 with 56 runs scored, 17 home runs and 52 RBI. He slugged .782 with a .514 on-base percentage. Was named the 2022 CoSIDA Baseball All-American of the Year as just the second PSAC student-athlete to earn the accolade. He is a two-time consensus all-region honoree and a two-time First-Team All-PSAC West selection.

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Samuel Hartman

School: Seton Hill

Hometown / High School: South Park, Pa. / South Park

Sport: Track

Major: Computer Science/Cybersecurity

Cumulative GPA: 3.79

Hartman was once again the PSAC Outdoor Champion in the 110 and the 400-meter hurdles winning the 110 in 14.34 seconds and the 400 in 52.23 seconds. He was an NCAA Qualifier in both events. Hartman was a 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree. For his career, he was a First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2021. He also made the PSAC Spring Top 10 last year and was named the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

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Karolin Kirtchtag

School: IUP

Hometown / High School: Salzburg, Austria / BG Zaunergasse

Sport: Women’s Tennis

Major: Sport Management

Cumulative GPA: 4.0

Karolin Kirtchtag won the 2022 PSAC Women’s Tennis Singles and Doubles Championship and was named PSAC Tournament MVP. She earned the 2022 PSAC Women’s Tennis Champion Scholar Award and was named the PSAC West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Year. Kirtchtag broke the IUP record for singles wins in a season (31) and tied the IUP record for combined wins in a season (57). She was also named ITA Atlantic Region Senior of the Year.

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Hannah Marsteller

School: Shippensburg

Hometown / High School: Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend

Sport: Softball

Major: Biology (Health Prof. Pre-Vet)

Cumulative GPA: 3.54

Hannah Marsteller began the season on a 27-game hitting streak, which resulted in a PSAC record 37-game hit streak, dating back the final 10 games of 2021. She led NCAA Division II in batting average (.521) and OBP (.588), ranked third in in hits (86), and fourth in slugging (.933). Marsteller was the PSAC Softball Eastern Division Athlete of the Year for the second straight time, she was named the Ron Lenz D2CCA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and she also earned CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team honors for the second year in a row.

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Kaleigh Pokrivka

School: East Stroudsburg

Hometown / High School: York, Pa. / York Catholic

Sport: Women’s Lacrosse

Undergraduate Major: Nursing; Graduate: Health Education

Cumulative GPA: 3.86 / 3.92

Kaleigh Pokrivka ended her career leading NCAA Division II in both active caused turnovers (179) and ground balls (232). She led East Stroudsburg to the National Championship game and was a major factor in the Warriors defense that led the nation in ground balls, was third in team caused turnovers, and ranked seventh in scoring defense. She was named the PSAC East Defender of the Year and earned IWLCA First Team All-American honors.

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Charleigh Rondeau

School: Slippery Rock

Hometown / High School: Buffalo, N.Y. / Amherst

Sport: Women’s Lacrosse

Major: Industrial & Systems Engineering

Cumulative GPA: 4.0

Charleigh Rondeau holds the Slippery Rock single-season school record with 144 draw controls and finished the season ranked sixth nationally in draw controls per game at 8.47. She was named a first team All-PSAC midfielder this season. Rondeau earned CoSIDA Academic All- District At-Large honors and won the 2022 “Outstanding Engineering Major” at Slippery Rock with a 4.0 GPA through 115.5 credits in the industrial and systems engineering program.

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Josh Surowiec

School: Mercyhurst

Hometown / High School: Williamsville, N.Y. / Williamsville North

Sport: Baseball

Major: Cyber Risk Management

Cumulative GPA: 3.746

Surowiec was named the PSAC West Baseball Athlete of the Year following leading the league in batting average (.430), OPS (1.385), slugging (.829), and on-base percentage (.556). He was also a First-Team All-PSAC Honoree, CoSIDA Academic All-District, D2CCA All-Region, NCBWA All-Region, ABCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year, D2CCA Third-Team All-American and NCBWA Second-Team All-American.

ABOUT THE PSAC

Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.

Original source can be found here.